Study Finds That Employees of Small Businesses and Their Families Still Struggle To Find Health Coverage

A new analysis of AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data found that one-third of lower-income employees of small employers and their families were uninsured in 2014–2015. The study, published in Health Affairs, found that the uninsurance rate for employees of these small employers and their family members did fall by 5 percentage points between 2004–2005 and 2014–2015. Using MEPS Household Component data, AHRQ researchers isolated coverage rates for those who were self-employed or worked for companies with fewer than 50 employees and their families. They found that employer-sponsored insurance was the most common coverage source, covering nearly 51 percent of the workers and their families in 2014–2015. Medicaid covered 18 percent, and other private insurance covered 11.5 percent. Access the abstract.

2018 Oct;37(10):1673-1677. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0479.

Despite Coverage Gains, One-Third Of People In Small-Firm Low-Income Families Were Uninsured In 2014-15.

Keenan PS1, Jacobs PD2, Miller GE3.

Author information

Abstract

Obtaining health insurance coverage has historically been challenging for workers at small firms and the self-employed. Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we found that the overall uninsurance rate for these workers and their families declined by 5 percentage points over the past decade, but one-third of those with lower incomes remained uninsured in 2014-15.